Holiday knitting, fairy tales for adults,and creamsicle granola!

So there are a few things that I am really excited about right now that I thought I would share with you.

1. French Press Knits Felted Slippers: It's a little late for holiday gifts, unless, like me, you are still trying to catch up. This year, I made (or am in the process of making) slippers for all of the special ladies in my life. If you are a knitter who hasn't run across this slipper pattern now, RUN! Don't walk- to this blog: http://frenchpressknits.blogspot.com/

Melynda Bernardi has posted a few patterns on this site and they are all lovely. I also made the Breckenridge Cowl for my dear friend Alice (and I have some yarn set aside to make one of my own too!) But what really stole my heart were the slippers! They are adorable, super-easy, and fast! Perfect for gifts and so, so cozy when the weather is as cold as it has been here!






I think I have made six pairs so far and about four more to go, one of which is knitted and sewn and not yet felted. I discovered while I was making the first few pairs that it really makes eco-sense, if you are concerned about such things, to felt more than one pair at a time (especially if you can't figure out how to set the water level on your new washing machine). The pattern is really straight forward and worked well with all of the yarns that I tried. My favorite yarns for this project were Paton's Classic Wool (but avoid the tweed colors, which lose their oompf in the felting process) and Wool Pak Yarns NZ. The Paton's yarn is much less heavy, but I think the Wool Pak creates a much sturdier, cozier slipper. I think the price is about the same too, when you consider that I got two pairs of slippers out of one skein of Wool Pak yarn. I hope I am remembering that correctly.

Also, I just noticed in that picture that you can probably see Sammy hair all over the pink slippers, which I kept for myself. He'll be 14 this year, so we don't fault him for shedding all over the place anymore. I think he deserves to shed wherever he wants. Don't you agree? How could you get mad at that face?











2. Creamsicle Granola: YUM! Chris is really motivated about losing weight and gaining muscle this year, and I am officially on board. He thinks that he is going to do this by eating nothing but fruits, vegetables, and water. Having fallen off a diet wagon or two in my life, I started looking for healthy recipes that we could both incorporate into our lives. I love to have yogurt and granola and blueberries for breakfast, but I have been eating much of it lately because I have had a really hard time finding affordable granola that is actually healthy and not loaded with excess sugar. Well, no longer. I found this recipe for citrus sesame granola that I tweaked a little bit to create this amazing concoction today! I left out the cashews intentionally because the nuts were getting to be too expensive, and because I wanted to use nuts that I had on hand. I left out the sesame unintentionally because I forgot to get some at the market. I added dried cherries for the fruit, and the result was spectacular. I can't wait to try it for breakfast tomorrow. I will have to let everyone know what Chris' verdict on the thing is.

3.Stardust: Since I am out of school, I actually have time to read non-fiction, which makes me veryveryvery happy. My sweet mom gave me a great book narrated by a dog, Enzo, called The Art of Racing in the Rain. It was such a sweet read- I'll warn you now that if you are prone to crying, you should get out the tissues before the last 20 pages or so. I finished that one in a couple of days because I couldn't put it down, and then while I was at this wonderful, spirited bookstore in Asheville this week I ran across Stardust. Now, this was one of our favorite movies that we discovered last year. I'm not much for watching movies over and over again, but I've probably seen this one 10 times now. I'm also a little cautious about books that are turned into movies, but this one is such a fun read. It is an adult fairy tale about a land that is filled with magic and adventure as it is explored by a young man who is out to find his heart's desire. Of course, I can't tell you much more, but everyone should read it. And then watch the movie. Over and over again.